


Always

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Series: Confession [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, In Universe, KH3 spoilers, Love Confessions, Mourning, a much needed talk between ven and aqua, background soriku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 13:17:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18873961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: “Ven?”“What’s up?”“I’m…” Deep breath. Just say it. “I’m sorry.”





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> While this is _technically_ a sequel to “Together”, you don’t have to read that before this. Just know that in “Together” Sora and Riku start a relationship and that is referenced in this fic.
> 
> Also, big KH3 spoilers. Turn back if you haven’t beaten the game yet.

It was… _really_ hard to let certain feelings go.

Not that, well…

Not that Aqua particularly _wanted_ to, but…

She didn’t want it to be like this.

Sniffling quietly and scrubbing at the tear tracks on her cheeks, she wondered why she hadn’t stopped crying yet.

Well. Not that it wasn’t easy to justify, when she thought about it. Not after what she and her friends had just been through. Not after everything that they’ve experienced. After everything they’ve lost.

One loss in particular was…finally hitting her full force, like a battering ram against the inside of her head. It had to be let out. There was no reason then, she supposed, that she wouldn’t be crying. When she finally got home and expected—hoped for everything to return to normal and it wasn’t… Nothing was normal anymore. Nothing. It was no wonder that she’d found herself in this position now. They expected to greet their old lives again when they finally returned to the Land of Departure.

Instead they built a grave.

Aqua was determined to hang on to the good memories with her master. She thought she was, at least. The memories of summoning her keyblade for the first time. The memories of his large hand over her tiny fist, guiding her stance into a proper one. The memories of warm laughter and warmer hugs, being tucked into bed when she was little and staying up late to listen to his stories of his youth when she was older. The glow that covered her skin when she was praised and the fire that sparked in her when she was pushed. He was her father just as much as he was Terra’s. She _wanted_ to remember him only as that.

But now he was just…gone.

It hadn’t felt like it in the Realm of Darkness. He was _with_ her; every time she summoned his keyblade, she felt his presence.

After a decade of walking endlessly through darkness, she started not to feel anything.

It swept over her all at once, being pulled back into the Realm of Light. Seeing old friends and making new ones. Feeling the weight of the passage of time every time she looked at Sora, Riku and Kairi. Being reminded of how much she’d missed, how much she’d lost out on. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking forward to anymore. Her goals from the moment she’d gotten out had been to save Ven and take down Xehanort. What happened after was inconsequential.

Now here she was in the after, and she didn’t know what to do. The first thing she’d thought was to ask Master Eraqus for some sort of direction, some sort of advice. And it slammed into her like a wave and knocked her off her feet.

He was _gone_. How was she going to deal with that?

She’d hugged him tight, said her goodbyes and watched him fade away with as much of a smile as she could muster, but it _wasn’t enough_.

She needed him here now to tell her what she needed to do. Her whole life he’d done so. Even in death, he’d given her all the information she’d needed to move forward. But now the conflict was over and he’s truly passed, and what?

What was she supposed to do now?

She’d stopped wiping at her tears by this point. They were coming faster than her fingers could brush them away. There’d always been something to look forward to, some sort of goal to work towards, even when everything had gone as wrong as it possibly could. Without a goal, without guidance, she was lost.

Hmph. Some Master she made. Sobbing to herself in the library…

She couldn’t stop, though. She wanted to hear her master’s footsteps throughout the hall, full of poise and purpose. She wanted to hear the sounds of metal clashing as Terra trained outside. She wanted to hear Ven’s laughter echo against the walls as he joked with Terra, or read a humorous book. She wanted to be outside making herself useful; not sitting in front of a stack of books, staring at them blankly as the taste of salt and the pounding in her head started to overwhelm her.

She wanted things the way they were again.

Of course, they never would be. And she could only place a hand at her forehead, digging circles into her temple with a thumb as she tried to ward off the near-migraine she’d given herself. What she hoped to accomplish by sitting in the library and crying, she couldn’t fathom. But she couldn’t stop either. She wanted to, _needed_ to. She _couldn’t_.

Not even when the groan of the heavy wooden library doors met her ears. Someone grunted with the effort of pulling them open, and their footsteps made a beeline directly to her. Too light and fast to be Terra’s, and she knew for a fact he was still tending to the Master’s grave, anyway. He needed that alone time as well. Ven didn’t do alone time very well. After nearly twelve years spent alone on that chair, Aqua couldn’t blame him for it either. He must’ve sought her out then. She didn’t really know what she would do or say or to him, but she wasn’t going to turn him away. She didn’t have the strength to do so. She needed someone there for her too, difficult as it was to admit.

“Aqua?” The footsteps had paused a few footsteps in front of the table she sat at, hesitant. The sound of her name was meek, withdrawn. Not at all what the owner of that voice sounded like on a normal day. Not for years, at least. She wondered how much she had him worried right then.

Hastily, she wiped at her face one last time and sniffled quietly. It was futile, really. She couldn’t just _stop_ crying. If it was that easy, she’d have long since pulled herself together.

“Ven.” She didn’t look at him.

She could feel his presence though, when he shuffled over to her, slower this time, his shoes dragging across the floor with each step. He sat next to her, close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body heat along her arm. He didn’t touch her, didn’t try to comfort her with a pat on the shoulder or a hug. That was fine, though. This was all she needed right now.

She heard his intake of breath, as if he was preparing to speak again, and she waited silently. He seemed to hang on his words. Nothing came out. When she chanced a glance at him, his gaze was far away; directed at the stack of books in front of Aqua not as if he was looking at them, but rather looking through them. Deep in thought, it seemed.

“What’s on your mind, Ven?” she asked. Her voice croaked slightly and she cleared her throat, wincing at how dry it felt. She’d been in that library for hours.

“Same thing that’s on yours,” he said. He’d laughed, if it could be called that. A short, dry thing that sounded foreign coming from someone so bright.

“It’s just…” Ven trailed off. He placed his hands flat on the table, having been clenching them into fists beforehand, and sighed heavily. He looked tired, though he hadn’t made nearly as much of a mess of himself as Aqua had. She wiped at her face again, this time with her sleeve.

“It’s, uh… It’s weird that he’s gone, huh…” she offered, guessing that this was what he was going for.

“I think weird is an understatement,” he responded with a flat tone. He was looking down now, though his gaze was just as unfocused. As if he was in a daze. Even the way he spoke was slower, with all the emotion leeched out of it.

He had a point though. ‘Weird’ wasn’t the best word to use. Terrible, maybe? Empty? Like the Master had taken all of their good cheer with them. It wasn’t as if they had much to begin with by the time they were reunited.

“What do we do now?” Ven asked. It was a question Aqua had been dreading.

Because she didn’t know. She had no clue what to do next.

She shrugged. Out of the corner of her eye, Ven shot her an uncertain look. Thankfully he didn’t comment. She didn’t want to be called out on what she was already aware of. She was the master of this place now. She needed to know what to do.

She didn’t, though. And she couldn’t admit this out loud, because doing so felt like giving up. She’d done more than enough of that for the past decade.

So, they were left in an uncomfortable silence.

“What’re the books for?” Ven asked after only a minute of being able to stand it. He’d started fidgeting, even. Picking at his nails as his glances switched between Aqua, her stack of books and the table. The patter of a foot tapping met her ears and she tried not to cringe at the sound.

“It’s… I don’t know…” How to be a Keyblade Master. She couldn’t bring herself to admit that out loud either, but it was true that she didn’t.

In all the years she’d lived in the Land of Departure, all the time she’d spent training, all the lessons she’d learned from the Master… She didn’t know how to be one. She was too young to remember coming to the Land of Departure; never knew how she got there, or when, or why. She could barely even remember her own inheritance ceremony. Sure, she knew the words necessary to pass down the keyblade like the back of her hand, but she’d never experienced doing so. Kairi was a happy accident, one she’d spent too long puzzling over until Mickey had pointed out that he’d noticed Kairi touching Rainfell when he met them at the castle gates.

Everything the Master did was home to her. She never put thought into it beyond that, happy to live by a daily routine that had become so ingrained into her that it was muscle memory. Without Master Eraqus, there was no longer a routine to follow. She had to step up to the plate and start training others in their ways. And yet the thought of going out and finding new keyblade wielders to train was so intimidating. How did she know she was making the right judgment? All her choices so far had led to more failures. She didn’t know how to be a Keyblade Master that didn’t fail constantly. She wanted to say she’d hoped the books would give her some answers, but she knew deep down that all they amounted to was busy work.

She must’ve said this aloud, judging by the sharp gasp from Ven.

“You’re not a failure, Aqua,” he argued, leaning forward until he was pressed close into Aqua’s bubble and she was forced to look him in the eyes.

“If that was the case, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” she told him. Her voice was shaky from the weight of her words, but she meant them all the same. There were so many things she could’ve done differently. She could’ve put more trust and faith into Terra, she could’ve convinced the Master that he was ready, she could’ve known _in some way_ that Xehanort wasn’t the ally he’d pretended to be, she could’ve taken Vanitas out quickly enough that Ven didn’t have to. Aqua had a long list of failures following her, and the effects echoed out in poisoned ripples until they’d infected and ruined the lives of those around her.

On the flipside, she could count her accomplishments as a master on one hand.

“What are you talking about?” Ven was frowning deeply now, the emotion bleeding back into his voice in time with the rise of his temper. It was just her luck, of course. She’d managed to make him angry. She wondered if she’d pushed him away too.

“You know,” he started, voice simmering as his face turned pink with vehemence. “You’re right, Aqua, without you none of us would be where we are. We wouldn’t be safe and sound, and able to live so peacefully. We wouldn’t be so inspired to keep fighting for what we believe in. That’s all you ever did, and in the end you kept me safe while I healed. You brought Sora to me so I could wake up, and you protected me when Vanitas showed up. You fought just as hard as the rest of us in the Keyblade Graveyard. You brought our home back, and ever since we returned you’ve been working to make it better. To make yourself better.”

Ven nodded at the books, the encapsulation of all the busy work Aqua had been powering through. She’d been back and forth trying to work through the bleakness that threatened to poison her entire being, trying to bring back the Aqua that once was. The one that hadn’t spent what felt like an eternity stewing in darkness. The one that constantly worked towards a goal. But she wasn’t that Aqua anymore. They had all changed. She only charged forward because if she stood still, she’d be doing even more of what she’d just been spending the past hour doing.

Yes, more than anything she wanted her home in top shape. She’d gone out of her way to clean it from top to bottom, healing the tears in the land that hadn’t quite restore themselves when she unlocked the world again. She was thankful to Ansem the Wise for returning her armor and keyblade to her, and it’d given her more of a sense of purpose. After all, how could she be a keyblade master without the weapon itself. Besides, she missed Rainfell. She missed the times she’d spent with it.

None of this, however, was really for the benefit of their home. She just needed _something to do_.

“I’m not…” she started, averting her eyes and huffing out a sigh when the words hung on her lips. She had to force them out. “I’m not _better_ , Ven, I’m just—”

“It’ll take time! But we’ll all heal,” he interrupted. Aqua looked at him again, _truly_ looked at him.

It was like watching a stranger.

An odd feeling, one that put a weight in Aqua’s chest and squeezed. She held a hand to her heart to make sure it was still there, working right. Nothing could quite explain that alien feeling, as if she’d missed a chunk of Ven’s life and suddenly he was so much older, so much wiser. It was as if she’d been kicked out of her own life and replaced, only to just now have gotten it back when everything was different. It felt…lonely.

But that didn’t make sense. They’d picked back up where they left off when he woke up.

Right?

“Ven…?”

He did touch Aqua this time, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers tightly. The anchor that kept her at bay.

“I understand how you feel, Aqua,” he said. His voice was low. Tired. His eyes downcast, but there was a set to his brow that gave off that familiar feeling of hope. All so contradictory. “I miss him too. Terra misses him too. We all miss our old lives. But we haven’t given up! We can’t give up, we…”

His argument fizzled a bit as his grip on her hand loosened, and she found her own automatically clutching it tighter in response.

“We just can’t,” he finished. Quiet this time. As if his rousing speech had no direction, nor a conclusion. But his feelings…

Those reached Aqua.

Usually she was the glue that held the group together. Ven was the upbeat one, but he was still so young and naïve. Terra had his heart in the right place but he gave into his emotions so easily. They were both such passionate people, they needed someone more levelheaded to keep them on track.

And yet here the tables were being turned on her. Now Ven was the one encouraging her to be rational, and she couldn’t simply justify it to herself to calm down and stop wallowing in her own sadness, but she _wanted_ _to_. She wanted to because she wanted the familiar back. She wanted to because everything had changed, and would continue to change as they grew as people. And it was terrifying.

It was so terrifying going forth and not knowing what to expect now.

She couldn’t even rely on their old group dynamic. Now Terra stayed outside of the castle, finding himself unworthy to walk its halls as he tended to their master’s grave without rest, even when it didn’t need tending to. He’d become so much more contemplative; quietly examining his every thought, his every movement, so as to make sure he was in control. Only talking to Aqua and Ven when they joined him outside, pretending so obviously and so desperately that he was more alright than he really was.

And Ven…

Aqua wondered if Ven grew during his time spent wandering dreams and watching life pass by through Sora’s eyes. He was quieter now, more solemn. More observant.

He still looked and sounded and acted like the Ven Aqua had known for years and yet he didn’t. When he spoke, his words were so like him they were almost nostalgic, and yet they weren’t.

“I know it’s scary that everything’s so different now,” he continued in the thick silence Aqua had left in her inability to respond. “I don’t know what to do now. I want Master Eraqus to be here, but at the same time I don’t. I want things to go back to the way they were, but that’s never gonna happen Aqua. We have to move forward.”

He straightened up then, and Aqua was no longer looking at the child she’d so desperately believed he was twelve years ago.

“We worked too hard to get what we do have back. And so did Sora. And so did Mickey, and Donald, and Goofy, and even Riku and Kairi. So don’t try to tell me you’re a failure.”

It was quiet again, the room filled with a crushing silence once more. The library was peaceful, uneventful. A few barely disturbed dust motes floated through the air as orange light bathed the room, warming it. Such a tranquil sight despite the war within Aqua. The push and the pull that tugged her in every different direction. She didn’t know what to say to Ven’s words. Deep down she knew she hadn’t failed. They couldn’t be sitting in that very room, enjoying the feel of the sunset and the scent of ink and paper, if Aqua had truly failed. She’d still be floating in that black abyss, never to be found again if she’d failed. But another, darker side of her—one that had thrived in that blackness—whispered to her again and again that she’d let everything fall apart. She’d ruined her closest friendship. She’d let her master die. And now, confronted with the possibility of moving on, she’d be wrong to simply let things go and walk forward. What could _Master Aqua_ do? If she’d already ruined things in the past, what could she mess up in the future? How dare she try to move on when she clearly hadn’t mourned enough? She should spend an eternity mourning in that castle.

Ven slipped his fingers from between Aqua’s and briefly touched his pointer finger to the wrinkle in the skin between Aqua’s eyebrows. Her thoughts dissipated like scattered leaves.

“Maybe now’s not the best time for this, but… I think you’d feel a little better if you smiled?” Ven suggested, inflecting it as if asking a question. An unsure quirk at the corner of his lips turned them upward, his eyebrows raising as if in invitation.

That was loaded. Aqua couldn’t really find it in her to smile, but…

He had a point. The more she sat wallowing, the more she let that dark voice back in. The one that convinced her she was useless, a failure, barely fit to be a master. The one that sent her into an inexplicable sobbing fit when her books tumbled to the floor, slipping through trembling fingers as she first picked them out. The one that mocked her tear tracks as she collected every tome and set it upon the table, the one that hunched her posture and wracked her frame as she sat gingerly in the ornate chair; the same chair her master had sat upon with her on his knee as he read to her when she was little. The voice that had followed her for so long she’d stopped differentiating it from her own thoughts. It wasn’t the darkness talking anymore. Maybe she really was just a failure.

No, letting the darkness in like that… That would’ve disappointed Master Eraqus. Ven was right, when it came down to it. She let this happen. Another failure she had to rectify.

She only wished it was easier.

In the time during which they’d been home, she’d had the opportunity to really reflect on everything that had happened. Suddenly, smiles weren’t coming so effortlessly to her anymore.

She’d try, though. Ven asked to her to, so she would. She wasn’t going to let him down again.

It didn’t feel like it was really the best time, but in the same vein it was the perfect time. She could stand for something, _anything_ to lift her soggy mood. She needed something that would finally pull her out of her cycle of self-blame and doubt.

So she smiled, tiny and pitiful as it was. Short, too. But it was there, and that seemed to be all Ven needed for a much fuller one to reach his face. Aqua wanted to return it in just as equal a force, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen yet.

“There’s the Aqua I know,” he said. She wondered how he could believe so, but she decided not to contradict him. It wouldn’t help with what he was trying to do.

“And there’s the Ven I know,” she answered instead, finding herself thankful that that bright smile returned. She knew it helped him too, to let go of those sad thoughts. To wash them away with a smile. He needed this as much as she did.

He’s been through so much… Just as much as her and Terra.

“Ven?”

He hummed in question at her, eyebrow raised at the shaky quality of her voice, and she had to close her eyes before the trust in his threatened to overwhelm her.

“What’s up?” he asked. She could imagine it: the way he tilted his head curiously, the worried wrinkle in his brow, the small frown—barely there until he knew for certain what was wrong. Maybe he’d even lifted his hand towards her, wanting to offer some form of comfort.

She opened her eyes again and discovered that she knew him all too well. He was as familiar to her as breathing air, as steady a presence in her life as her own heartbeat. Had he really changed as much as she thought? Or had Aqua simply never seen the person he truly was, so determined to see him as who she wanted him to be? He didn’t deserve the way she’d treated him.

“I’m…” Deep breath. Just say it. “I’m sorry.”

There it was, finally out in the open. It’d needed to be said for far too long.

Aqua knew now what she had been doing wrong. For the four years she’d spent getting to know him, he’d gone from being new and shiny, the stranger who trained under their master’s friend—which had been all too exciting to a fourteen-year-old Aqua, to the younger kid she had to protect. She couldn’t treat Terra the same way, not when he’d already beaten her to the punch, so she projected it onto Ven. He’d been so quiet and reserved, barely speaking a word and refusing for months to call his keyblade to him. It’d taken him ages to even start a conversation with any of them of his own volition. She treated him like a defenseless bird in a cage, like something that needed to be taken care of. Like a child. Granted, they were all children then. But, well, that was then. And this is now.

Right here and now, Aqua could see just how terrible it had been of her to treat Ven that way. He’d grown into himself so much, and she’d refused to accept it. It wasn’t until their first confrontation with Xehanort that she realized _just_ how much he’d grown. That he was willing to fight no matter the consequences. A fight he’d been forced into, certainly, but he’d owned up to it nonetheless and had taken responsibility. How could she have refused to treat him as anything more than a child then?

Aqua was so caught up in her efforts to protect her friends that she’d lost sight in what she was protecting them from. She thought she was protecting Terra from himself, when in reality he was already fighting with all he had to keep in control. She thought she was protecting Ven from the world, when it only turned out that he thrived outside his gilded cage. What had she really accomplished then, save for alienating the people closest to her?

She owed him that apology; she knew. A hundred times over if necessary.

“I’m so sorry, Ven…” she told him again, trailing off as her head lowered in shame. Ven was bright, independent, fierce, welcoming…everything a good person should strive to be. How could she not see that before?

She was thankful she finally did now.

“Aqua…?” His voice was tentative this time when he called out her name. His hand hovered for a few more seconds over her shoulder before finally she felt the warmth of his palm on her skin. “You don’t have to apologize to m—”

“But I do! For everything! It wasn’t right of me to try and force you back here. You had as much of a right to be out there protecting the worlds as we did.”

She placed her own hand over his, forcing herself to meet his gaze now. So open and accepting and a lively, sparkling blue. That was the Ven she knew. The Ven she was so, _so_ thankful to have back.

“You trained just as hard as me and Terra. And you handled yourself so well out there…”

“But,” His hand went slack, and she gripped it tight to keep it from falling away. “In the end…what happened…”

“Wasn’t your fault. We all suffered from Xehanort’s schemes.” All of them. Every single one. Even the ones who had no connection to him, who didn’t deserve to be stuck under his thumb. Xehanort’s influence was too great, too widespread, for Eraqus’ three apprentices to escape. It was like a series of pinpricks to her spine to know that if she’d succeeded in forcing Ven home, he’d have still been in danger. If Vanitas hadn’t gotten to him, the Master would’ve…would’ve…

She didn’t like to think about that. It was wrong to think ill of the dead either way. She’d let him rest in peace.

“Maybe it wasn’t,” Ven tried to argue, and Aqua was determined not to let him lose that bright spark to such thoughts. He wasn’t going to fall victim to the voice that plagued Aqua’s. “But I still could’ve—”

“Nothing, Ven. There was nothing any of us could’ve done to stop him. He had a plan for everything. But we could’ve maybe stopped ourselves from falling so easily for his deceit.” If they’d talked more, taken the time to understand one another, to _listen_.

They were going to fix that. They needed to.

“We’re not going to be those people anymore,” she said then, gripping Ven’s hand even tighter and feeling a burgeoning elation when he turned his palm upward and squeezed back. They weren’t going to be those bumbling kids anymore, bombarding the worlds with their presence as they tried so desperately and so unintentionally to screw things up even more than they’d already been. They were a team, and they were going to act like it. And Aqua was going to take the first step.

She was Master Aqua, and this… _this_ was going to be her purpose now. Never mind that bleak voice that so relentlessly wanted to remind her how little “Master Aqua” had done. She was going to prove it wrong. She _wasn’t that person_. She wasn’t going to let herself be. She _wasn’t_. She’d lose everything if she let herself give into that again.

“That’s definitely the Aqua I know,” Ven said, nodding in agreement and smiling softly. His hand, no longer slack, squeezed her shoulder in comfort before pulling away, and she found the spot colder than before. Her own palm rested over it to hold onto the warmth Ven’s hand had taken away. She hadn’t thought she’d be so desperate for closeness, but after nearly twelve years of pure, devastating loneliness she supposed it made sense. It was like flipping a switch, filling her veins with an electric current from every hug, every brush of skin. Even sitting close to someone was a necessity for her now.

And Ven… She didn’t think she’d ever look so forward to even the smallest touches from him. Even when he lifted that same hand that had been on her shoulder to her cheek to wipe away the last remnants of her tears, it was like a shock to the system. Continuous, and more pleasant than expected, when he didn’t pull away but instead cupped her face with his palm.

“It’s so weird to think that this is real,” he whispered. The atmosphere had changed then, as if weight had been added to it. As if they’d ruin it if they spoke too loudly. “That we’re sitting here in the library talking like it’s any other day. That we’re all back home and safe and sound. Well, maybe not all of us, but…”

It felt like a statement, when she lifted her own hand to Ven’s face and mirrored his gesture. As if she’d completed the circuit instead of pulling away and breaking it entirely.

“But he wouldn’t want us to linger on that.” She’d been doing so for _hours_. She’d resolve right then and there to follow her own advice.

“He’d want us to thrive,” Aqua concluded. Her thumb stroked the apple of Ven’s cheek lightly, automatically even. Something she barely registered until he did the same to her, smiling softly at her.

This was so…

 _Different_.

She hadn’t imagined that this was how her evening would go. She figured she’d be in that library until not even the moonlight could enable her continued reading. She thought she might cry herself back into the stupor she’d fallen into after they’d placed their wayfinders at the Master’s grave. She thought she’d read until her eyes hurt and her fingerpads dried out from leafing through dry, gritty pages.

She never imagined _this_ situation.

She never thought that in all of her observations of Ven, of who he truly was versus who she wanted him to be, she’d come to _this_ conclusion.

It was such a fleeting, unsure thought that she wasn’t even entirely sure that was what _this_ really was. She’d never thought she’d end up in it with _anyone_ , quite frankly. She’d poured all of her being into her keyblade and magic training before everything happened. And in the aftermath of it all, she figured she’d spend a good amount of time trying to figure out what exactly made a keyblade master. There was no room in her mind for _this_.

She wondered if he realized…

But then, once again she wasn’t giving him enough credit. He seemed to know what these sorts of feelings amounted to, if the… _incident_ with Sora and Riku was enough to go by. And how could she doubt that, really? He was sixteen, of course he knew. She was barely older than him. It wasn’t so strange to think that…

So, that was it then. Different, but not strange. Not bad.

She didn’t know what to think of _that_.

She didn’t know what to think of any of _this_. It hit her like a sack of bricks. How desperately she fought for him, and how much more so she wanted him back. She thought she just wanted him safe, like any other time he’d gotten dragged into some sort of trouble. Aqua never in her life imagined _this_.

“Oh,” was all she could quietly muster. It was involuntary; something she managed to think aloud.

“Hmm?”

“No, I just…” Aqua floundered a bit, not quite ready to address the reality of this situation. She didn’t really know how to say it. She didn’t even really know what exactly there was to say. She could already feel it and it was…

Different.

Whatever it was in her tone, Ven picked up on it quicker than she’d expected. His cheeks tinged pink and he started to pull away, and Aqua surprised herself when she stopped him.

“Wait!” She didn’t want that warmth to go away. She didn’t understand it, but she _liked_ it. How _different_. “Can we just…stay like this for a moment?”

Ven nodded, face flushed red now, but he didn’t move his hand any farther. His fingers were trembling though, the implications behind such a caress finally hitting him. She figured then he must’ve been just as nervous, just as _new_ to this, as she was. She wanted to say she knew better, but she’d learned over her journeys that there was a lot she really didn’t know.

So she was going to go into this with an open mind.

“Are you feeling alright now?” Ven chanced, finally lowering his hand as his arm must’ve tired out. Aqua’s had been resting against the table, and she lay it flat in order not to make things too awkward.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I’m feeling a little better, thank you.”

“Then…are we gonna talk about this?”

Straightforward, as if the elephant wasn’t even given the chance to enter the room. She’d almost forgotten how blunt he could be. In a way, she was thankful for that. She doubted _this_ was something she could’ve so readily faced head on. Not without a nudge, at least.

Before she could answer, the door to the library creaked open again and bathed the room in artificial light. Aqua hadn’t even realized it had gotten that dark outside, and a quick glance out of the windows and at the pinkened sky proved that they were indeed in the midst of twilight.

A shadow fell on them from the light of the hall, and both of them turned towards it to find the round figure of their new resident dream eater bouncing towards them.

Chirithy was a strange creature. He supposedly came from the realm of dreams, or so Master Yen Sid had explained, and yet was somehow able to exist outside of them. He insinuated that he was rather old, older than even the Land of Departure in its current state. Yet somehow he knew Ven. He wouldn’t tell how, or from where, or from when. He wanted to wait until Ven could answer that question for himself.

Aqua could admit she was intrigued. She and Terra had always wondered where Ven had come from before he was apprenticed to Xehanort. But he could never tell, and after a while they’d stopped bothering to ask. To them it became as if he was always there.

“Hey, Chirithy,” Ven said with all the familiarity one would hold with their dearest friends. He didn’t know why he became such close friends with Chirithy so fast, but he had, and it clearly made both of them happy. “Everything alright?”

The little dream eater shook out his grey fur and smoothed down the tiny pouch that rested against his belly. He seemed a little…agitated?

“Er… Sorry to interrupt. There’s a gummi ship outside and I think they’re waiting for you,” he informed them, fidgeting a little more. Nervous, maybe?

“A gummi ship?” Ven blinked in confusion at Aqua and she shrugged. “Someone came to visit? What for?”

“Are you okay, Chirithy?” Aqua asked, watching with a bit of worry as Chirithy started to pace. It was odd to watch, what with the dream eater’s steps being so light that he bobbed in the air as if caught in an ocean wave.

“It’s just, uh… Sora’s there. And Kairi.”

“Wait, what?!” both Ven and Aqua shouted in unison, jumping up from their seats.

That was…more than a little unexpected.

Aqua understood the risks that came with abusing the power of waking. Sora had overused it to the point of endangering himself severely, and to go even farther to find Kairi left him completely vulnerable to whatever fate had in store for him. Aqua didn’t know what the consequences would be. Most knew better than to take that power so lightly, and so she was often warned but never told exactly what happened to those who took that power too lightly. Mickey had mentioned that he could be lost to them if he tried, but…

If he was there on the gummi ship with Kairi, that meant he succeeded then. Right?

Aqua wanted to ignore the tight feeling in her chest.

“That’s great news!” Ven exclaimed, unheeding of the anomaly that this was. He too knew the dangers of the power of waking, but the happiness he felt for his friends’ returns must’ve outweighed any apprehension he should’ve felt. Taking in a breath and releasing it slowly, Aqua tried to put herself in that mindset. Maybe Sora _was_ fine. And Kairi was fine. Everything was fine.

Greater miracles had happened before.

She stubbornly ignored the voice in the back of her mind telling her everything was far from fine.

“We should go see them!” Ven turned to her, practically humming with excitement, and she returned his smile a lot easier this time. His enthusiasm was almost too infectious, permeating the air and spreading through Aqua’s system until the dark thoughts that held her own smiles hostage were quieted. And she was excited too. She wanted to be; Sora and Kairi were back and they were safe. That was more than worth the ease that washed over her.

“We should. Let’s go tell Terra.” He needed the break too. Sorely. The longer he spent kneeling in front of that grave, the guiltier Aqua felt. She knew everything that had happened was eating him away. As strange as it seemed, for as much as they’d been fighting to have their lives back, he needed time away from home. They all did.

Ven seemed to agree from the way his smile faded a tiny bit as he nodded, concern clouding his eyes at the sound of Terra’s name. She wondered if Ven had gone to Terra in hopes of giving him company in the same way he’d done for her. Well, maybe not exactly the same. Some parts she wanted to keep for herself.

“Are you coming with us, Chirithy?” Ven asked, crouching down so that he was level with the dream eater. Chirithy shook his head and laid a paw on Ven’s knee.

“You guys go have fun and I’ll hold down the fort. Besides, there’s something about this world that I want to look further into.”

Both keyblade wielders decided not to question it. This world was ancient, and it held secrets not even the Master knew. Aqua was certain whatever it was Chirithy was interested in was beyond them for now.

Besides, he was right. They needed to get out for a while. They’d been stewing in that castle for far too long, lingering on thoughts of loss. Eraqus would be disappointed to see his students reduced to this. It was time they started to make something of the legacy he left them and the title he left Aqua.

Later, of course. A vacation was in order. They all needed it after the harrowing experience that was Xehanort and his brief but frightening acquisition of Kingdom Hearts.

Chirithy had nothing more to say, turning on his heel instead and skipping off. Ven stood from his crouch, still looking after the direction Chirithy disappeared in, before turning to Aqua.

“You think they’re really okay? Sora and Kairi, I mean,” he asked. Neutral as his expression was, his tone was an odd mixture of hope and apprehension that Aqua was certain was reflected in her.

Once again she was looked to for guidance. And once again she was reminded not to underestimate Ven. Of course he’d noticed how odd this was. Maybe he even felt it. She was sure the connection between his and Sora’s hearts hadn’t been broken just because his had returned to him.

“Do you think they will be?” It sounded like such a typical, insignificant question. It felt like a milestone. When was the last time she asked Ven what he thought? How he felt? She was so used to taking the lead…

Maybe part of being a master was letting that go too.

“Can you still feel Sora? Do you think he’ll be alright?” she asked.

Ven placed a hand over his heart then, and closed his eyes. Much like Aqua had done when she reopened the Land of Departure, he breathed deep and simply _felt_.

“Sora’s always been a bright spot,” he mumbled. Aqua leaned closer to hear. In the back of her mind, she noted that he’d grown a bit taller. She didn’t have to lean down as much. “I can’t say for certain, but I think he’ll be fine. No one who shines that bright is lost forever.”

Watching the tranquil smile form on Ven’s lips, she found that she agreed. No one this bright was lost forever.

He opened his eyes and she straightened automatically, sheepishly averting her eyes when she realized how close she’d been to him. She really was out of her element when it came to these things.

Ven didn’t seem to mind however, dropping his hand from his heart and instead holding it out for Aqua to take.

“C’mon,” he grinned. “Let’s go see everyone.”

Aqua looked at his outstretched hand for a drawn out moment, holding her breath. This was so much more than just a vacation away. She was going to be hitting the restart button, and that thought alone was more frightening than all the adversaries she’d faced combined. But…this was Ven. He only wanted to help her stand, and from there she could start running again.

She slid her palm into his without a second thought.

“Yeah,” she said, eager for the first time in a long time. “Let’s go.”

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A trip to Destiny Islands found Aqua cooped up on the sand, knees pulled up to her chest as her arms were wrapped around her legs. Ven had been dragged away, introduced to Roxas properly, and they’d both spent a good amount of time marveling over their near identical appearances. They didn’t look exactly the same, not to Aqua at least. Not in the way Roxas and Sora did, facially at least. But she understood how intriguing it must’ve been for the both of them. From what she read up on nobodies in the gummiphone she’d been provided, Roxas—as well as Naminé—was an anomaly. He must’ve been both fascinating and exciting to Ven.

She wasn’t sure where he was now. He’d wandered off to explore the rest of the island as more and more visitors were brought in. She’d heard Donald shouting something about world order after the Twilight Town visitors arrived, but while she’d normally be inclined to agree, she found nowadays that she simply didn’t care. This was a time where they needed to be with friends, to reassure themselves that everything was finally okay.

When that thought crossed her mind, Aqua looked up and spied the silhouettes of Sora and Kairi sitting upon the bent over paopu tree. He’d mentioned something about wanting to spend some time with her since he got her back. He’d apparently spent the whole night before with Riku and felt like he owed Kairi a one-on-one. Even when she’d protested.

It was a little ominous, how he was treating this like he was saying his goodbyes. Riku had urged her not to worry about it—and she’d gotten the distinct feeling he knew something she didn’t—so she dropped the subject. As much as it irked her to not know, to not be able to help, they were Master Yen Sid’s students and therefore not her responsibility. She’d offer them as much assistance as she could, whenever she could, but her priority was her home.

And speaking of… Her gaze slid over to familiar tan hakama, and she looked up even further to find Terra standing before her and looking down at her quizzically.

“Really Aqua? You’re on a beach, surrounded by friends, and you’re just gonna mope in the sand?”

He stepped closer and his shadow enveloped her, making it hard to see his expression. Aqua could imagine it though: hard and severe, like Master Eraqus, and yet unable to hide that playful glint in his eyes that told her he was kidding around with her.

She grinned at that.

“Who’s been standing in a corner sulking after losing yet another race?”

“Hey!” he exclaimed, placing his hands at his hips. “I don’t sulk! I simmer.”

Aqua found it more than a little difficult to hold her laughter in at that.

“What does that even mean?”

Terra laughed too, shrugging before sitting in front of her crosslegged. He was still facing away from the sun, but suddenly he wasn’t quite so shrouded from view. Aqua took that moment to really examine him.

He seemed a lot more relaxed now than he had been at the castle. He must’ve really needed to get away. She was sure of it, judging by the tightness that had earlier been around his eyes. The wet streaks she’d spotted lining his cheeks when they met up in front of the castle. The atmosphere of that place must’ve been crushing him. He needed to breathe.

“How are you?” they both asked in tandem, and this sent them into another small laughing fit. One they couldn’t quite explain. They’d spoken in unison before, yet somehow this one time was funnier than the others. Or maybe it was just that much more relieving to fall into something so familiar.

Terra held out his hand in invitation before leaning back on both of his arms.

“Ladies first.”

“How chivalrous,” she teased. The Master had been adamant on teaching his students manners though, so she wasn’t surprised. “I’m alright. I guess.”

“Same. I guess,” he said. She knew he meant it when his smiles came to him that much easier. It wasn’t a full recovery, but she didn’t expect that. That wouldn’t happen for any of them for a while.

“Hmm. Done racing then?”

It was small talk, but she really didn’t know what else to say. Not without making it awkward at least.

“For now. I tell you; these island kids are onto something. I need to start training here, I’m almost jealous of that stamina Riku has,” he sighed. Aqua let out another laugh at that, glad to see the pride in his eyes when he spoke of Riku. She’d suspected before that he’d been the one to pass the power to Riku and found that she wasn’t surprised when it was confirmed. It was no wonder Terra was proud. Aqua was too.

“I think that’s just a sign you need to exercise more,” she snickered, picking at him in a way all too reminiscent of their childhood.

Unfortunately, that meant he was just as adept at picking back.

“Oh yeah and while I’m doing that, I guess you and Ven are gonna be taking romantic strolls in the moonlight.”

Aqua sputtered at that.

“Wh—how did you—?”

Terra rolled his eyes and sighed again as a smirk started to form.

“C’mon, like no one noticed you two holding hands the entire gummiship ride.”

Aqua was sure then that the burning sensation over her face and neck was not a sunburn. Terra didn’t seem to judge, though, even if he teased. His posture was as relaxed as ever; open and inviting.

“So, you and Ven…uh…” Terra nodded his head this way and that, a vague gesture that Aqua didn’t think she’d have been able to decipher if she didn’t already know what he was alluding to.

“I don’t kn… We’re still trying to figure that out,” she said, shrugging lightly. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to start this with Ven, but it was all so new to her. She never knew what it felt like, never really had anything to compare this feeling to. Never really knew anyone who felt the same about her.

“You guys might want to talk about it, then. So you can know for sure,” Terra chuckled. His smile was as easygoing as ever, and his encouragement was a familiar gentle push. She missed that. That unnatural anger and willingness to push his friends away all those years ago… That wasn’t him.

“I know. I’m just not sure how to go about that.”

Leaning back further until his hands were buried in the sand, Terra looked to the sky as he spoke.

“Sometimes you just need to jump in, rather than think about it. So what if you’re not sure? It’s what you want, right?” he asked. She wondered if he realized just how much she needed to hear that. There were so many things she wanted to achieve, and she overthought every one of them. Maybe she did need to just jump in.

“Thanks, Terra,” she told him, smiling softly. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do much.”

“You did more than enough.” Unwrapping her arms from around her legs, she finally stretched out and let herself relax. Mostly. There was still one more thing that itched at the back of her mind, something that had her fiddling with grains of sand and broken seashells, biting her lip nervously and tilting her head down.

“How do you…? Are you okay with…?” She wasn’t really sure how to phrase that. She wasn’t looking for permission, but it meant the world to her to have the blessing of her oldest friend.

“Of course I am,” Terra chuckled, picking up on the direction she was going with her broken, unsure questions. “Just try not to third wheel me too much.”

He said it jokingly, but Aqua didn’t miss the pleading behind the words. She couldn’t imagine how frightening it must’ve been, just getting your friends back only to think you’ll lose them in another way. Aqua wouldn’t do that to him of course, and neither would Ven. They had twelve years to catch up on, and they weren’t going waste a moment of it. These feelings between her and Ven…they could handle that on their own time. They didn’t have to rush; they still had so much to figure out and plenty of time to do so.

“We won’t,” Aqua told him, her tone much firmer. “I swear it.”

“And, in return, I swear I won’t get in the way of your _alone time_ —” he broke into childish snickers when Aqua reached over and shoved at him, finding herself grinning at his flippant words, despite what they were implying.

“I can’t believe you,” she groaned loudly, not at all as peeved as she tried to appear. Terra saw right through it.

“No, I mean it,” he grinned. His expression straightened out, mostly—he still held a tiny smirk, as he placed his hand over his heart. “I, Terra, swear on my honor that I shall not interrupt—”

She shoved him again and he fell against the sand, sprawled out spread-eagle. Aqua found herself rolling her eyes fondly at his antics.

“There’s nothing to interrupt!”

“Yet.”

“ _Terra_ …”

 “I’m kidding…mostly.” He grinned at her again and she sighed heavily once more. “I think it’s nice that you two decided to go for it.”

Aqua raised an eyebrow at that. It sounded as if he was expecting this.

“When did you start thinking we would?”

“Not too long ago. When we were in the keyblade graveyard…the second time around. It just felt like something between you two had changed. I wondered if this was it. Glad I was right.”

Aqua only hummed in response, not quite sure what to make of that. Her eyes scanned the beach for a telltale flash of golden blond, complete with the brightest smile. If it was obvious, she wasn’t doing much to make it not so. Not when she barely put a thought into the action, seeking Ven out automatically.

“He’s over there, by the way,” Terra added, having noticed her search.

She blinked in surprise at him and he only grinned wider.

“Figured you might be looking for him.”

Her line of sight followed Terra’s until she caught that familiar tuft of blond hair up by one of the treehouses. Ven was strolling along the wooden bridges now, having gotten his fill of making new friendships and meeting new people. He seemed to be in the same conundrum Aqua was in, searching unwittingly for her until their eyes met and he smiled brightly.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Terra chuckled, and Aqua sent him one last playful look of warning before lifting herself to her feet.

She’d thought, as she strolled across the sand, that she might’ve gotten used to this by now. Ridiculous, the longer she lingered on it. Of course she wasn’t used to this. She’d had no time to discuss this new development with Ven, having only just barely realized it was even a thing before Chirithy had joined them. Odd that Terra had seen something between them sooner, but then maybe not so much so. She wasn’t afraid to acknowledge that maybe her desperate need to see Ven again had become a little different from her need to see Terra again. Both were equally important, but in such dissimilar ways. She wanted Terra back because she wanted her best friend back. She wanted back the kid who used to swing his keyblade around the castle courtyard wildly, claiming so confidently that he would be a master someday. She wanted back the best friend who used to let her hide in his room and under his covers when thunderstorms darkened the sky, only broken by terrifying blue flashes. She wanted back the best friend that studied and trained and prepared so hard to live out his dream.

With Ven, there was no simple way to describe how she wanted him back. She tried to see it the same way she saw Terra, but Terra was a constant in her life that she never wanted to see change. Ven was like a whirlwind, blustering into her peaceful existence and uprooting every grounded thought, expression, and preconceived notion she’d ever had. He _was_ change. _Good_ change. She wanted to watch it continue—to watch him grow and change and expand. She wanted to be a part of it.

It just hadn’t occurred to her until that day that maybe she didn’t want to do so as just a friend.

Not that she wasn’t still friends with him, far from it. But there was more to it than just that. Yet another change in her life that Ven brought, one she was warming up to more and more with each second. One that she wanted to see bloom. Maybe she knew it all along, then. It only took a little push to acknowledge it. Granted, she never expected a confession like that in the middle of a crying fit, but then everything about this was so unexpected. To Aqua, at least. Terra seemed to have caught on before she and Ven ever had.

The crunch of sand under her shoes smoothed out into the heavy, succinct thump of metal against wood. She wasn’t even aware of having crossed the beach that quickly, so caught up in her own thoughts. Around her, a waterfall trickled into a small pool and next to it sat the opening to a cave from which a dull rhythmic thud of energy pulsed. The world’s heart, she assumed. It was so faint that she knew not to pay it any mind. That meant it was locked up and safe. Beyond even that, a series of stairs and ladders spiraled upward into multiple bridges, landings and a treehouse. The very one she knew Ven was huddled by. Climbing up to it was the easy part. A few stairs and a narrow bridge clearly meant more for children than someone her age and height, and one short ladder that was cramped enough that she had barely a foothold on it before she’d already climbed to the top…these were simple. Barely worth committing effort towards.

Yet she lingered by the wooden railing when she reached the top, standing opposite of Ven as he leaned against that railing and watched the activities below. He was still smiling faintly, blowing a puff of air at his bangs when they fell into his eyes at the breeze. Waiting for her, it seemed.

She always kept him waiting in some way or another.

Aqua resolved to end that bad habit before it rooted itself and stop loitering at the ladder, instead slipping past Ven so that she could stand on the other side of him, bumping her left arm against his right lightly. She watched their friends run around below as well for a moment, taking in their individual tasks separately and smiling at their effort. Between the sandcastle competition that had to have started no longer than a few minutes prior and the third race Riku had managed to drag Terra and Roxas into, she wasn’t sure what was more amusing. Even the more tranquil activities such as Xion and Naminé collecting seashells by the water and Sora and Kairi speaking quietly to one another only brightened Aqua’s mood. And in such a beautiful world as this, where nothing but bright colors, clear blue waves and vibrant palm trees, and the sounds of seagulls calling and water lapping filled the air, she felt at ease.

“They sure are having fun down there,” Ven finally said, leaning out a bit farther over the railing to watch everyone with wistful eyes.

“You could be down there with them.” Aqua didn’t really want him to leave, not when she’d just gotten up there, but who was she to tell him where he could and could not go? She’d learned her lesson.

“Nah. I want to be up here with you.”

Those words sent a warmth through Aqua that she could not explain, nor did she want to. That was what _this_ was like, then? Feeling a wave of happiness flow through her when he admitted to wanting to spend as much time with her as she wished of him? Then she wasn’t going to question this.

“Same, Ven,” she simply said. Yet she knew she sent the same elation through him with her words when his expression lit up and his entire body relaxed. That made _this_ all the more worth it.

“So, I guess now we can talk about it, huh? Without being interrupted?” Ven asked, finally looking at Aqua.

“Yeah, we can. Though it’s probably for the best we have a little more privacy up here.” Even though she knew she’d probably lose all her marbles and then some if someone caught them alone up there. All they needed to do was look up, really. “Don’t want to be ‘walked in on’.”

“Oh, you mean like you did with Sora and Riku?” Ven laughed, and Aqua turned bright red as the image of the two in such an… _embrace_ came unbidden to her mind. A small part of her had taken note of the fact that the near-kiss she’d interrupted hadn’t looked all that serious—more awkward and aggressive than anything—but the larger part of her flushed with embarrassment at having seen it at all. That was their moment, and she’d managed to stumble in and ruin it.

Though, judging by the way Ven had disappeared right after, only to return with a smug grin told Aqua that she hadn’t completely spoiled their moment.

Speaking of…

“At least I wasn’t spying on them,” she grinned wryly, nudging Ven. She was sure her teasing was dampened by the tinge of red in her cheeks, but it was worth it to see Ven’s flush even brighter.

“I couldn’t help it,” he admitted, smiling sheepishly and scratching at his cheek. “They were so… _obvious_.”

“Not much of an excuse,” she laughed. No one was truly upset in the aftermath, although both Sora and Riku had flushed bright red when they joined the small gathering as Ven shot them both a wide grin and a thumbs up. She wondered if they’d wanted to keep that private, though. Sure, eventually everyone would have known but…

She didn’t think she could quite handle not going about this at her own pace. Ven seemed content with keeping alongside her, not trying to rush her into a whirlwind romance. She wasn’t even sure how those worked. She had to discuss this with Ven; they had to set boundaries and discover one another slowly. If she leapt in, she’d quickly get swept away and this wouldn’t work at all for her.

Thankfully, Ven seemed to agree. He hadn’t done much more than hold her hand since they’d left the castle. Aqua wondered if he was just as nervous as she was. As far as she knew, this was his first relationship as well.

“How do we do this…?” she mumbled under her breath. Her finger tapped against the wooden railing, the other hand squeezing Ven’s fingers lightly. He squeezed back without pause, probably without even thinking about it.

“How do we do what?” he asked. His head tilted to the side, the perfect image of curiosity.

“ _This_ ,” Aqua sighed, waving her free hand vaguely. “I’m completely new to this. How do we…?”

“Honestly, I was gonna ask you,” Ven chuckled sheepishly. She wasn’t really even asking him. Neither of them had an answer.

For once, Ven asked for her guidance and she truly had no clue where to go from there.

“Why don’t we just…I don’t know, go with the flow?” he suggested, his fingers detangling from Aqua’s as he placed his hands behind his head.

“I don’t even think we have a flow yet.” Dry as her reply was, she meant every word. She didn’t even know how a relationship was supposed to flow. They’d only just come to this point a few hours prior anyway.

“Do we have to? We’re going at our own tempo. No one said we have to jump right in.”

And for once, Ven was instead the one with the answer. A pleasant surprise for Aqua who was otherwise more than willing to take the lead. And another sign of how much he’s grown.

“You’re right. We’ll go at our own tempo.” Never mind that neither of them knew all the steps. They were both more than decent dancers; they’d figure it out eventually.

“Glad you agree,” he sighed in relief. “I don’t know if you were expecting a kiss, but I don’t think I can go that fast yet.”

Stars, just the sound of that word sent a flush all the way to the tips of Aqua’s ears. Ven was blushing just as hard, and he was the one who’d mentioned it. He made a good point, though. She wasn’t quite ready for that step yet.

But she wanted to be close to him. Aqua was not one to shy away, even when she was so out of her element. She was serious about exploring this new facet of their relationship: a step above friendship but not out of the realm of it. Something familiar and yet so unfamiliar all at once. More than just holding hands, something she could handle with just about anyone, she wanted something between just them. So she turned to face him, lifting her arms hesitantly.

“Is it okay if I…” she trailed off. Ven clearly didn’t know what she was planning, but he nodded anyway and shifted to face her directly as well.

He didn’t flinch when she reached out and placed her hands on his cheeks, pulling him closer and leaning in. She wasn’t quite sure what she was going for, but it wasn’t quite a…a k— _that_. She needed to prepare herself for that. As pleasing and exciting and exhilarating as the idea of having her first kiss right then and there on that beach with Ven was… She needed a moment to process everything.

So instead, their foreheads pressed together, the motion bringing along with it the bumping of noses and the whisper of breaths. The brush of lashes when they closed their eyes and simply felt. A hand slid across Aqua’s cheekbone so lightly that she had to concentrate to feel it there, stroking blue strands behind her ear before settling along her jaw. She leaned into the touch so naturally that she barely registered doing so. It was a gesture so intimate that she was sure a kiss wasn’t needed anyway. Not in that moment, when tingles traveled over her skin and goosebumps erupted over her arms.

This was just so…different. New. Exciting. She never thought she would have this with Ven—with anyone, really—but now that she was in the midst of this experience, she didn’t think she’d ever possibly want anything else.

“Is this okay?” he whispered, reaching up to one of her hands and slipping his fingers between hers once more.

There was no hesitation when she answered.

“Yes.”

Always.


End file.
